Back on Idol's second season, Trenyce was a serious contender for the title but was upstaged by more personable finalists like Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken. Still, she was able to put together some strong showings, including her performance of Celine Dion's "The Power of Love" during Top 8 (Billboard No. 1s) week. Watch the performance below:
Kristy Lee Cook had a rough time at the beginning of Idol's seventh season due to some pretty poor showings and not so great song choices ("Faithfully"?), but she really hit her stride during Top 8 week when she sang Martina McBride's "Anyway." Watch the performance below:
How ironic is it that the finalist who went home in eighth place tonight was IDOL LIVE readers' favorite Top 9 contestant in part two of the Top 9 edition of the poll of the week? Well, regardless, it happened.
Katie netted 31 votes, totaling 23% of all votes cast, which was two votes ahead of Siobhan's 29 votes (21%). Siobhan finished second in the poll of the week for the first time in four weeks.
The finalist who garnered the third-most votes for the week was none other than Lee, as he took in 20 (14%), which was ahead of Crystal's 17 votes (12%). Andrew, who left the show in ninth place tonight, only took in three votes (2%).
In the latest edition of the poll of the week series, readers are asked who their favorite Top 7 contestant is. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Aaron Kelly 10 (7%)
Andrew Garcia 3 (2%)
Casey James 8 (5%)
Crystal Bowersox 17 (12%)
Katie Stevens 31 (23%)
Lee DeWyze 20 (14%)
Michael Lynche 2 (1%)
Siobhan Magnus 29 (21%)
Tim Urban 14 (10%)
Total votes: 134
Running total for Season 9:
24th - Haeley Vaughn (0 votes)*
21st (tie) - Janell Wheeler (2 votes)*
21st (tie) - Todrick Hall (2 votes)*
21st (tie) - Paige Miles (2 votes)*
19th (tie) - Joe Munoz (3 votes)*
19th (tie) - Jermaine Sellers (3 vote)*
17th (tie) - Tyler Grady (4 votes)*
17th (tie) - Michelle Delamor (4 votes)*
15th (tie) - John Park (6 votes)*
15th (tie) - Ashley Rodriguez (6 votes)*
13th (tie) - Lacey Brown (9 votes)*
13th (tie) - Michael Lynche (11 votes)
12th - Katelyn Epperly (10 votes)*
11th - Lilly Scott (14 votes)*
10th - Alex Lambert (22 votes)*
09th - Tim Urban (48 votes)
08th - Didi Benami (56 votes)*
07th - Andrew Garcia (58 votes)
06th - Casey James (60 votes)
05th - Aaron Kelly (75 votes)
04th - Katie Stevens (93 votes)*
03rd - Lee DeWyze (133 votes)
01st (tie) - Siobhan Magnus (158 votes)
01st (tie) - Crystal Bowersox (158 votes)
*indicates contestant has been eliminated
On this Easter Sunday, here's to hoping everyone who celebrates the holiday enjoys their time with their families and friends. In honor of Easter, let's watch the seventh season's Top 8 finalists perform "Shout to the Lord" from their "Idol Gives Back" special:
Jennifer Hudson's stay on Idol's third season is considered by many to be on the short side, but others believe her vocals were not up to par at the time compared to their strength nowadays. An example of a performance that many could agree was one of Jennifer's bright spots was her performance of "I Have Nothing" during Top 8 week for the "Songs of the Cinema" theme night, which received overwhelming praise from the judges (and Quentin Tarantino). Watch the performance below:
Carmen Rasmusen may not have been met with the same magnitude of a career in the country music realm like Carrie Underwood, but she similarly took on 80's rock back on her season of Idol when she performed "Call Me" by Blondie on Top 8 week for the Billboard #1 Hits theme. Watch the performance below:
Queen night brought a lot of exciting showcases on the fifth season of Idol. Who could forget Kellie Pickler's rocker alien chick rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody"? But Bucky Covington's country take on "Fat Bottomed Girls" was among those that were underrated at the time. Watch the performance below:
For the first time, Adam emerged victorious on IDOL LIVE's poll of the week for Top 8 week of the eighth season of Idol. After Kris's two straight weeks of placing first, Adam eked out a win this week with 30 votes (30%) to Kris' 29 votes (29%) of the 100 total votes cast.
The next closest finalist was Danny, who remained in third for the week with 16 votes, and Anoop was right behind in fourth with 12 votes. Surprisingly, Scott received a grand total of zero votes, which probably explains why he was sent packing tonight.
In this week's poll of the week, readers are asked to vote for their Top 7 favorite finalist. You will have exactly one week to vote.
Kris Allen 29 (29%)
Anoop Desai 12 (12%)
Matt Giraud 4 (4%)
Danny Gokey 16 (16%)
Allison Iraheta 8 (8%)
Adam Lambert 30 (30%)
Scott MacIntyre 0 (0%)
Lil Rounds 1 (1%)
Total votes: 100
Running total for Season 8:
13th - Jorge Nunez (1 vote)
12th - Jasmine Murray (4 votes)
11th - Alexis Grace (6 votes)
10th - Michael Sarver (8 votes)
09th - Scott MacIntyre (17 votes)
08th - Megan Joy Corkrey (48 votes)
07th - Lil Rounds (3 votes)
06th - Matt Giraud (29 votes)
05th - Allison Iraheta (49 votes)
04th - Anoop Desai (76 votes)
03rd - Danny Gokey (135 votes)
02nd - Adam Lambert (139 votes)
01st - Kris Allen (164 votes)
Tonight one finalist will take his or her final bow...or will they? Tune in tonight at 9 p.m. ET to see if the judges finally use their all-powerful save on the elimnee. The blogcast will last one hour. Kellie Pickler and Flo Rida are tonight's two guest performers.
Birth years and tears for fears summed up last night's performances, but tonight's results are ultimately more meaningful to the competition. The one person that will absolutely 100% not be in danger despite having his entire performance chopped off due to time running over is Adam thanks to his much talked about take on "Mad World."
While the Bottom 3 is easy to spot this week, there are a few finalists that could make a surprise appearance since they were all on an equal playing field in terms of performance quality and reception from the judges.
Here are my predictions for the Top 8 results:
Tonight's results should shock very few if they go as follows:
Bottom 3
>Anoop, Kris, Scott
Bottom 2
>Kris, Scott
Eliminated
>Scott
Although all signs (meaning DialIdol.com) are pointing to a Kris departure, it is my call that Scott has outlasted his stay. Even though he tried to switch things up last night, the judges still could not bite, and their mostly negative comments mixed with average to bad vocals and a poor choice of song and you've got yourself a dead end. As a person, Scott seems like a great guy with an awesome sense of humor, but his time on this show just has to be up.
Kris going would not be a surprise, but there's a slight possibility they might use their immunity power to spare him for this week at least, although it would not be guaranteed that he'd escape elimination next week. He clearly was not the worst last night and should not go before at least three others, but the forgetability factor surrounding him is very strong at this stage.
The third member of tonight's B3 will be Anoop despite the excitement surrounding his champion Tar Heels. He delivered a pretty good vocal last night but good vocals do not always equal good results.
In my original predictions, I had Alexis going, but she left weeks ago so that won't come to pass.
One thing is for sure: this one is going to be close.
In what was an overall off night, a few noteworthy performances were able to shine through when the Top 8 finalists took to the stage in the face of baby pictures clouding the big monitor. Birth years may be a favorite theme of the contestants according to Ryan, but it is almost never a favorite of the voting audience.
As usual, Top 8 night had the producers trying to fit way too many pigs in a blanket, as evidenced by the episode's 9:06 end time. Ryan did his best to rush through his speaking parts, but the judges' comments in the beginning slowed the whole thing down, most notably Paula's incoherent ramblings.
Kicking off the night was the eldest of the eight remaining finalists, Danny, whose rendition of "Stand By Me" used the arrangement set forth by Mickey Gilley. The arrangement was both Danny's best friend and his worst enemy, as it went from slow and forgettable to a little bit happenin' to all over the place. Simon actually liked the performance as a whole, though, while the other three salivated over the underwhelming offering Danny had following a spectacular performance last week.
Someone in the same boat is Matt, who did Stevie Wonder proud with "Part-Time Lover" despite having the odds stacked against him. The spectacle should have been a huge disaster based on song choice alone but Matt held it down while looking the part of and Idol. Since he went second to last, he had to endure snippets of critiques in comparison to his fellow finalists that went before him, which probably did more harm to him because although he received all positive comments, none were memorable.
A finalist that certainly did not benefit from her critiques was Lil, as her alright-but-not-good-enough take on Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do With It?" earned her a tongue lashing from the furious four, with Simon really laying it down by telling her "We've lost you. I have no idea who you are anymore." He did offer her constructive criticism, but it went on for far too long and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. Despite the frigid reception from the judges, Lil's hollow plea that she would "try harder next week if America gives her a chance" should be enough to earn her a spot in the Top 7.
Someone who surprised last night was for sure Anoop, especially after last week's lazy, haphazard performance. Anoop sang "True Colors," which usually would be grounds for elimination on the spot thanks to its dreariness and the fact that it's been performed to death. But despite a muffled microphone, he delivered in the end. Anoop received a stern talking to from Simon, though, as he said apologies to the judges for "being rude" are unnecessary because they also say things to the contestants that probably shouldn't be said. To add to everything, Kara yelled over the audience's clapping that Anoop never was even rude to him, basically rejecting his sincere apologize he doled out prior to taking the stage. Regardless, Anoop is a good guy for issuing the apology.
The second-best performance of the night came from Allison, as her straight-up version of Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me" did more good for her than any rocked-out version could have done. Allison's vocals came off a little Broadway in places, but overall there was hardly anything negative to say about the performance. Randy's comparing Allison to Idol-era Kelly Clarkson was out of place and although it's nice and flattering to her, it is sort of a slight to Kelly. That's not to say Allison's bad, she's just not in Kelly's league.
Two finalists that should be worried for tonight's results are Scott and Kris. The logical choice to go home based on the performances would be Scott, as his rendition of Survivor's "The Search Is Over" showed that while he tried to change it up a little bit, he really does not sound as good when he's not behind the piano. He tried his best with the electric guitar, but it could not mask his creaking and croaking vocals (especially the high parts).
Even though it was kind of a tough critique, Paula was able to treat Scott kindly while leveling some serious sense of reality to him. Scott was able to let some humor out, telling Paula he was "letting his punk side out" with the electric guitar, but it might not be enough to save him.
Kris, on the other hand, did a pretty decent job on Don Henley's "All She Wants to Do Is Dance." But decent doesn't always translate to votes, and the judges' lukewarm comments coupled with the overall forgettableness of Kris and things are not looking too bright for him tonight. Definitely expect a showing in the Bottom 3.
And then there was Adam. While I have been pretty rough on him this season, I have to give credit where credit is due. Just the fact that he was able to get Simon on his feet deserves props in of itself. Adam was able to retain a sense of vulnerability and raw emotion on Gary Jules' "Mad World." The lighting combined with the eerie instrumentation definitely set him up to have a "moment," and by estimations he did just that. It is fair to say it's too early in the season for him to have his finest showing, but whether or not this is his peak, Top 8 week will be looked back as a pivotal moment for Adam.
Tonight will be a test to see which finalist has the stronger fan base, as Kris or Scott will have to say goodbye to their Idol dreams. Check back later to see my predictions for how tonight will play out.
Join us tonight as we blog during the Top 8 finalists' performances of songs from their birth years, which basically translates to a whole lot of eighties music. There have been a few rumors circulating regarding possible song choices, but y'all will just have to tune in at 8 p.m. ET to find out exactly who chooses what and how everyone does.
Since Idol is in the spirit of giving this week, the inspirational songs the Top 8 chose were expected, but the quality of the performances from contestant to contestant were not. It is fair to say last night was "opposite day" on the Idol stage, as some of the favorites bombed while the usual lightweights came out on top.
Michael Johns kicked off the show with Aerosmith's "Dream On," which probably was not the greatest song choice considering how many songs I have to choose from but he pulled it off, especially Steven Tyler's near-impossible falsetto near the end. Although Simon said it was "wannabe-ish," Paula said he sounded as good as he looked and that her chihuahuas were going to join him on stage when he hit the high notes. Despite the effort, look for a bottom 3 appearance on Thursday.
Following an awkward exchange between Ryan and Simon about chihuahuas, Syesha Mercado took on the perennial coronation song "I Believe." Although she lacked the emotion that Fantasia had when she won (as Simon noted), Syesha hit a Mariah-like note that sent chills up the audience's spines. After a little talk back session with Randy about comparing her with Fantasia, Paula stepped in and said it's not fair to compare the two of them. Regardless, Syesha also has a ticket to bottom 3ville.
Another surprise last night was how mediocre David Cook was. Even taking his thoughtful but cheesy "give back" palm message out of the equation, David's take on Our Lady Peace's "Innocent" was sloppy and a little out of sync. Maybe it was the lack of changing up the arrangement since the audience is so used to seeing him do it, or maybe it was just that he set the bar too high. Either way the judges said it was not his best, with Simon even declaring the performance a "teency weency bit pompous."
Jason Castro had one of the strongest performances of the night with Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." He showed off his ukulele-playing skills and vocally was sound, which led to a lot of praise from the judges, who had basically trashed him the previous night on Larry King Live. Randy said the performance was "blazing, molten hot!" and Paula thought he chose "the perfect song."
Carly Smithson, however, was another story. She choose an awkward song considering the theme, Queen's "The Show Must Go On," and Simon was right when he said he thought it sounded more angry than inspirational. Vocally, she was alright until she went into her upper register, where she kind of fell apart and had pitch problems, which Randy noted. Look for another inevitable bottom 3 appearance tomorrow night, with a very good chance at an elimination.
Kristy Lee Cook was one of the biggest surprises of the night, as she belted out Martina McBride's "Anyway," showing off her twang and managing to hold some pretty long, high notes. Simon again complimented Kristy Lee on her song choice, saying she's "appealing to [her] base." Look for her to sail through to next week.
Then there was David Archuleta, who showed up everyone else with his piano-playing skills and version of Robbie Williams' "Angels." Randy was right in saying the refrain at the conclusion of the performance was great, but he crossed the line when he said it was his "hottest moment all season." Simon complimented David for his song choice. Glad someone finally picked a song Simon likes.
Brooke White closed out the show, sounding very mediocre on Carole King's version of James Taylor's "You've Got a Friend." Shaky, wavery, vulnerable are all adjectives to describe the performance. Simon was right in comparing it to a "pleasant walk in the park." Nothing to write home about, but still alright.
After a day of celebrities and charity the Top 8 becomes 7 tomorrow night, and it looks pretty clear cut how the results will go.
Predictions:
Bottom 3: Michael, Carly, Syesha
Bottom 2: Carly, Syesha
Eliminated: Syesha
